Josh Kennedy pulled on the #12 Sydney Swans guernsey for the first official time on Saturday night 27 March 2010.

At 21 and a veteran of 13 games for Hawthorn, he was older and more experienced than only 20-year-old debutant Lewis Jetta in a side that was to play St Kilda in Round 1 at Stadium Australia.

It was a Sydney side coached by Paul Roos that had finished 12^th in 2009 with an 8-14 record against a St Kilda side that had lost the grand final to Geelong by 12 points.

St Kilda prevailed 15.6 (96) to 13.10 (88) as Nick Riewoldt had 22 possessions and four goals for three Brownlow votes, Jarryd McVeigh’s 29 possessions and one goal earned him two votes, and Leigh Montagna’s team-high 26 possessions for the Saints was good enough for one vote.

Kennedy, playing only 68 percent game time, had 18 possessions from five kicks and 13 handballs, with 10 contested possessions, plus four tackles and two clearances.

There were high hopes for a player whose surname was football royalty. He was the grandson of John Kennedy Snr, the latest AFL Hall of Fame legend, and son of a four-time Hawthorn premiership player John Kennedy Jnr. But there were no guarantees.

Ten years and three rounds on, as the ever-durable Swans warrior prepares to play his 250^th AFL game against the Western Bulldogs at the SCG tonight, there is a compelling argument to say that he has been the AFL’s most valuable player of the past decade.

It is a statistical argument but appropriately so. Because nothing tells the story of Kennedy’s remarkable career better than pure numbers.

Of 582 players who played in the AFL in Kennedy’s first season in Sydney, 101 are still playing. He has played more games than any one of them. Or anyone else in that time. And while he ranks a close second for overall possessions in that time, just 141 behind Collingwood’s Scott Pendlebury, he heads the three statistical categories that define the match-winning inside midfielder that he is.

He is No.1 over the past decade in contested possessions, clearances and tackles.

His 134 Brownlow Medal votes over this period ranks eighth behind Patrick Dangerfield (209), Dustin Martin (176), Gary Ablett Jnr (5), Nat Fyfe (174), Pendlebury (173), Joel Selwood (161) and Lance Franklin (135).

With 149 wins in Sydney colors, only three players in this period have sung the club song in victory more often – Shaun Burgoyne (156), Selwood (155) and Harry Taylor (154).

And now, among 132 players to have topped 5000 possessions in the AFL since the League started keeping full records in 1965, Kennedy’s game average of 26.31 ranks fifth. Only Greg Williams (26.88), Dane Swan (26.85), Pendlebury (26.55) and Sam Mitchell (26.40) are ahead of him.

Tonight, Kennedy will become the 253^rd player since the foundation of the League in 1897 to play 250 games. That puts him in the top 1.98 percent of an all-time player list that now numbers 12,781.

And having publicly declared his want to continue playing after he turned 32 last Saturday, there is every reason to expect he will join a 300 Club that presently numbers just 90. Or 0.07 percent of players.

Kennedy, blocked for opportunities in his first two years at Hawthorn, headed to Sydney with ex-Hawthorn teammate Ben McGlynn in a trade for selections 39, 46 and 70 in the 2009 AFL National Draft.

Pick #39 delivered Sam Grimley, who played only three games for Hawthorn and four for Essendon. But pick #46 turned into current Hawthorn captain and three-time premiership defender Ben Stratton, while pick #70 delivered dual Hawthorn premiership player turned Western Bulldogs star Matt Suckling.

Kennedy not only shared his Sydney debut with Jetta but four others wearing red and white for the first time – McGlynn, Shane Mumford, Daniel Bradshaw and Mark Seaby.

It seems a lifetime ago. Sydney were coached by Paul Roos, while only Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson and Richmond’s Damien Hardwick, who coached his first game in Round 1, 2010, are still in the same job. Brett Ratten, now at St Kilda, was at Carlton, and John Worsfold, now at Essendon, was at West Coast.

The other coaches? It’s a great memory test. They were Neil Craig (Adel), Michael Voss (Bris), Mick Malthouse (Coll), Matthew Knights (Ess), Mark Harvey (Frem), Mark Thompson (Geel), Dean Bailey (Melb), Brad Scott (North), Mark Williams (Port), Ross Lyon (StK) and Rodney Eade (WB).

Brad Scott coached North for the first time in Round 1, 2010, while other playing debutants were Richmond’s Dustin Martin, Geelong’s Mitch Duncan, Hawthorn’s Tom Scully (then at Melbourne), Western Bulldogs’ Jackson Trengove (then at Port) and West Coast’s Luke Shuey. Bulldogs games record-holder Brad Johnson played his 350^th game, Geelong’s Joel Corey played his 200^th and ex-Swan Barry Hall played his first game for the Dogs.

Interestingly, 13 other members of Kennedy’s first Sydney side in 2010 played alongside him in the 2012 premiership. They were McVeigh, Jetta, Mumford, Adam Goodes, Jude Bolton, Kieren Jack, Heath Grundy, Nick Malceski, Lewis Roberts-Thomson, Ted Richards, Rhyce Shaw, Ryan O’Keefe and Marty Mattner.

The eight who did not were McGlynn (injured), Bradshaw, Brett Kirk, Craig Bolton, Tadhg Kennelly (retired), Seaby and Jesse White (not selected).

They were replaced by Luke Parker, Dan Hannebery, Sam Reid, Nick Smith, Mike Pyke, Craig Bird Alex Johnson and Mitch Morton.

Kennedy inherited the #12 Swans guernsey from 2006 premiership player Nic Fosdike, who at the time had played a club record 164 games in it from 1999-2008. He had been contracted for 2009 but after playing only one game in 2008 due to a pre-season knee injury he retired in January 2009.

By Round 22, 2016 Kennedy had bettered the Fosdike mark after topping the #12 triple figure tallies of Billy King (136 games – 1940-48) and Norm Goss (121 – 1972-77).

Having worn #36 in his first season at Hawthorn and #32 in his second season, Kennedy’s 236 games in #12 for Sydney sees him fifth in the AFL all-time. Ahead of him are St Kilda’s Nick Riewoldt (336), Richmond’s Jack Titus (294) and Matthew Richardson (282), and St Kilda’s Gary Colling (249).

And if the Swans can celebrate the Kennedy milestone with a win tonight, Kennedy will become just the nineth player among 1426 all-time Swans to play in 150 wins for the club. Ahead of him Adam Goodes (216), Jarrad McVeigh (203), Jude Bolton (184), Michael O’Loughlin (171), Ryan O’Keefe (164), Heath Grundy (160), Kieren Jack (159) and Vic Belcher (151).

THE KENNEDY DOMINATION – TOP 10 KEY STATISTICS IN THE AFL - 2010-2020

Games: 1. Josh Kennedy (Syd) 236, 2. Scott Pendlebury (Coll), Joel Selwood (Geel), Patrick Dangerfield (Adel/Geel) 228, 5. Dustin Martin (Rich), Steele Sidebottom (Coll) 226, 7. Shaun Burgoyne (Haw) 222, 8. Harry Taylor (Geel), Justin Westhoff (Port), Todd Goldstein (NM) 221.

Possessions: 1. Pendlebury (6458), 2. Kennedy 6317, 3. Joel Selwood 5841, 4. Dangerfield 5781, 5. Martin 5727, 6. Sidebottom 5640, 7. Travis Boak (Port) 5338, 8. Gary Ablett Jnr (Geel/GC) 5242, 9. Nathan Jones (Melb) 5222, 10. Dan Hannebery (Syd/StK) 5165.

Contested Possessions: Kennedy (Syd) 3544, 2. Dangerfield 3292, 3. Selwood 2806, 4. Pendlebury 2705, 5. Cunnington 2529, 6. Nat Fyfe (Frem) 2527, 7. Cotchin 2463, 8. Boak 2369, 9. Rory Sloane (Adel) 2365, 10. Ablett 2358.

Clearances: 1. Kennedy (Syd) 1606, 2.  Dangerfield 1329, 3. Joel Selwood 1310, 4. Ben Cunnington (NM) 1191, 4. Luke Shuey (WC) 1144, 6. Pendlebury 1132, 7. Trent Cotchin (Rich) 118, 8. David Mundy (Frem) 1073, 9. Ablett 1024, 10. Callan Ward (WB/GWS) 1023.

Tackles: 1. Kennedy 1268, 2. Selwood, Pendlebury 1250, 4. Liam Shiels (Haw) 1196, 5. Jack Redden (Bris/WC) 1194, 6. Brad Ebert (WC/Port) 1177, 7. Sloane 1138, 8. Tom Rockliff (Bris/Port) 1083, 9. Boak 1006, 10. Shuey 1002.